The current situation at Shanti Nivas home and Hospice

Bottle necks and shortages!

So far electricity not restored in Cantonment,( where DMC house and the Rainbow boys live, the office is and the schools). Today is 10 days completed , and we are expecting a trial electrical test this evening 

Shanti NIvas, our rural campus 10 Km from Vizianagaram, restoration of electricity will be another 10 days or more it seems .

Roofing sheets not available as all the stocks purchased by people and the government , so we have to wait for another few days to get our order.

We are still running on generators for water and charging batteries for the inverters so  lighting is not a problem.

Mary is making Victor's dosa with grains ground  by hand!

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Parts of emails Victor has managed to send

I have managed to send this email after 5th day of Cyclone, mobiles started working from last night.

Things are very difficult here for the electricity , and water, and food ,  all the materials are so high as the transportation is not good, because roads and railway lines are not working ,  to restore electricity it may take another 4 - 5 days as officials says ( since 6 days no electricity in our district) . I am renting mobile generator and filling petrol with high rates  litre 100 rs, for pumping water and charging inverters in other 3 homes ( Rainbow orphans and leprosy children home, Prem Nivas HIV home, Karuna NIvas HIV home ) , buying vegetables, milk, and food items for high rates as there is scarcity.

Properties wise lot of damage happened in 3 districts AP govt say  60,000 - 70,000 thousands or more crores of rupees loss for the state.  Vizag is completely devastated, it is a biggest loss of property in 100 years of time in anywhere in India.

Victor has managed to email photos

DMC House neem tree lost branches

Victor thinks that  need about £4000 to get roofing sheets replaced, cement electricity poles and wires reinstated, uprooted trees cut up for firewood and the cost of labour to do these jobs. The expense of renting generators to provide

and climbing plants were damaged

power to raise water for the children and to work the fans and lights will also be a big expense.To get water from the wells, via submersible pumps, electricity is needed. The water is   then pumped in sequence to tanks on the roofs of buildings. When there is power it is used to fill large batteries called inverters which dispense electricity to a limited number of fans and lights. All of our  

DMC girls clear up storm debris 

homes have some inverters. Electricity is also needed to work the water filters that provide clean drinking water for the children and staff. 
We have to get the high voltage cables on the poles again so that we can use the Shanti Nivas generator to give us electricity. The other homes have hired kerosene based generators to give a small amount of power to the inverters. 

Rajeshwari and girls survey
 the debris that was flying around.

The local government hospitals are without power as states switchgear, transformers and the electrical supply infrastructure was damaged by the cyclone. The airport is expected to resume limited flights on 18th September. Trains have lost and damaged  track.

There is no such thing as buildings and contents insurance at Brighter Future. I am not sure that it even exists in India! 

At Shanti Nivas Victor and Rainbow boys lend a hand

I have read that petrol is so short that it is being rationed to a litre per customer - alright for those with motorbikes or autos but a blow to owners of cars and jeeps (called four-wheelers in India) like Brighter Future. Every month the Brighter Future vehicle needsto  take food stuffs to the children's homes at Karuna Nivas, Prem Nivas, Shanti Nivas. leprosy colonies and the Hospice, as well as to the HIV/AIDS widows of Srikakulam district.. We also have to collect building materials ourselves if possible, to avoid high transport costs.

water pipes and electricity cables need repairing.

staff and children gather wood

Victor has hired men to cut broken branches and cut up fallen trees that cannot be salvaged. The going rate used to be 250rp a day but with the current demand I expect he is having to pay a lot more. The price of foodstuffs has risen too, because of damage to crops and the difficulty of bringing them to the market. The price of milk is similarly rocketing. I hope the Shanti Nivas hens are laying ! At least we will have lots of firewood for cooking on for the next few months.

Victor in the thick of it!

Vegetable stick tree being replanted

localised flooding

The rail and air communications of the wider area are slowly being restored as is the generation of electricity, especially in Visakhapatnam, The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and the Prime Minister of India are visiting the area and promising funds. 

Bathroom and toilet block lost doors and roof sheets

dining room roof damaged

Tree cutters finish for the day

Generator roof needs repair

Cyclone HUDHUD

Victor and all children are safe.
I have had this email from Victor today, Tuesday 14th October 

 I am using Supriya’s mobile hotspot connection for typing this email as my phone does not have connection. We do not have electricity for last 3 days, I am renting mobile generators at all homes for charging inverters and pumping water for the homes, and using a lot of fuel for doing this. People are selling more rates everything due to things not available, example litre 75 Rs, now they are selling for 100 Rs, same thing like milk, food items, vegetables. etc,  

We have nearly 3 lakhs (£3067) rupees roughly damage in all homes  I have estimated. Shanti Nivas toilets bathrooms roof sheets blew off , trees nearly 50 fallen so we have to cut them and make them pieces for firewood , clearing electrical wires, poles,  I am also going to cut rainbow home big tree as branches fallen on the shops, 

 Please start emergency appeal for the children homes Please you also start in your blog and appeal to people .

It is estimated 60,000 thousands crores properties damaged in Vizakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts ( counties)  where Brighter Future works in 5 leprosy colonies, has five children’s homes and a hospice.  

People of 80 years are saying they have never seen this kind of cyclone in their lifetime. This is the biggest disaster happened in this 3 districts in the last 100 years., Nearly 15000 trees fell, communications, transportations, electrical , all aspects affected,  

Thank you Manyaji for your prayers 

Will send photos once communication is recovered 

In my experience Victor is inclined to underestimate so I should think the children's homes damage will be about £4500! The fuel to run the generators is increasing all the time as kerosene cannot be delivered  to the petrol stations because  roads are blocked by fallen trees, metal hoardings, cement poles and  power lines. There is no electricity to work the pumps and using generators increases the overheads to the petrol bunk. 

There has also been cyclone damage on the 5 leprosy colonies supported by Brighter Future. 

Have a look at Times of India online edition for pictures of Visakhapatnam town damage. 

Rainbow children get a Pep Talk!

Vizianagaram Rotary Club. of which Victor is now a member, supported  an event at DMC House for the senior Rainbow children and Brighter Future's college students, with the title  Personal Hygiene.The talk was given by a skin specialist and although aimed at the senior students the younger children seemed to enjoy it too.

I wonder what the speaker is describing?

The younger children are attentive.

A new voice for Leprosy Patients

Brighter Future has taken the initiative to form SLAP. This is to be a representative body  for leprosy patients in the whole of Andhra Pradesh to look after their interests.

Brighter Future has been working for the betterment of  leprosy patients since adopting the  derelict Bapuji colony in 2005. It was at Bapuji colony that Brighter Future first provided medical care -  regular wound care and a dressings nurse.

This was followed by the repair of, and the provision of, drinking water wells. Previously there had only been government supplied water two or three days a week. Food grains were provided and funds were raised, from supporters of Brighter Future’s children’s homes, to build  new houses to replace the dilapidated and snake infested colony houses. 

Pastor Elisha, himself a leprosy sufferer, became our leprosy project coordinator and organises an advocacy programme with the local district government to secure pensions for leprosy patients, bus passes and ration cards.

It was at this stage that The Leprosy Mission and the Dewan Foundation joined Brighter Future to provide housing and microfinance to leprosy patients.

 Brighter Future now covers 5 colonies in the three districts of Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam. It is from these districts that 6 members have been invited to the new SLAP committee... Our leprosy co-ordinator, Pastor Elisha, has been elected as Vice President and another 2 members are general body members.
Victor has been elected onto an advisory board of SLAP along with 2 other members

It is sincerely hoped that SLAP will be great platform for the AP leprosy patients to take their voice to the State  Government of AP.

Another side of the HIV/AIDS problem.

Victor sent me this sad story.

Please find Tirupathi Rao who is in the Hospice. He is 41 years, he is suffering with HIV/AIDS and he was admitted in Hospice for opportunistic infections, fever and TB.  He is on ART in Srikakulam, his village is Ranjam. He weighs only 30 kgs, his CD4 is 20.  (very very low) 

He has 3 children who are teenagers and sadly they have thrown  him out  from his house as they think that if he is at home they can’t get marriages and everybody in village will be looking down at them.  His wife is negative somehow .

All family members are putting him down by words and saying him to die.

He is mentally very upset and he thinks he will die. We are spending time with him and counselling him and providing nutrition food hourly , 

He is slowly picking up and hopefully he will recover. 

Please pray for him